Monday, August 13, 2007

Daily Highlights

Reuters reports central banks around the globe pumped billions of dollars into banking systems on Friday, August 10, in a concerted effort to beat back a widening credit crisis, and they pledged to do more if needed; the U.S. Federal Reserve said it would provide cash as needed to ensure markets functioned smoothly. (See item 11)
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The Los Angeles Times reports more than 20,000 international passengers were stranded for hours at Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday, August 11, waiting on airplanes and in packed customs halls, while a malfunctioning computer system prevented officials from processing their entry into the country. (See item 15)
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Information Technology and Telecommunications Sector

35. August 10, IDG News Service — UK report questions role of ISPs in online safety. A new report on Internet safety has concluded ISPs (Internet service providers) should take more responsibility for online security since end users are often lax. But the 121−page Personal Internet Security report, published on Friday, August 10, by the UK House of Lords, stopped short of suggesting that the Office of Communications (Ofcom) −− the UK communications regulator −− should impose new rules on ISPs. "We do not advocate immediate legislation or heavy−handed intervention by the regulator," the report said. "But the market will need to be pushed a little if it is to deliver better security." ISPs generally argue that security is the responsibility of end users, which Ofcom has also supported. The report called it "disappointing" that the UK government has accepted those arguments since the reality often exceeds the capability of end users to recognize the threats.
Report: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200607/ldselect/l dsctech/165/165i.pdf
Source: http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/08/10/UK−report−questions−role−of−ISPs_1.html

36. August 09, eWeek — EMC−RSA acquires data loss prevention specialist Tablus. RSA revealed its intent Thursday, August 9, to acquire Tablus, a data loss prevention vendor adding to RSA's security portfolio the ability to identify sensitive data and find it in places where it shouldn't be stored. Neither party would disclose details of the deal, but executives expected RSA's acquisition of Tablus, which is based in San Mateo, to be complete by October or November. The purchase and software acquisition adds to RSA and parent company EMC's stack of content storage and security and place them ahead of the pack with a product that finds data even when it is out of place, said executives and industry analysts.
Source: http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2168890,00.asp

37. August 09, IDG News Service — Symantec patches critical Norton flaw. A bug in the way Norton AntiVirus software uses the ActiveX programming language could cause serious problems for users of Symantec's products. On Thursday, August 9, Symantec patched the flaw warning that a bug in two ActiveX controls used by Symantec's client software could allow an attacker to run unauthorized software on a victim's computer. Security vendor Secunia ApS rates the problem as "highly critical." The flaw is an "input validation" error, meaning that Norton doesn't properly check the data it's receiving to ensure that it can't be mistaken for malicious commands.
Secunia Advisory: http://secunia.com/advisories/25215/
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/infoworld/20070809/tc_infoworld/90901;_ylt=AnyqA_LzLbo5f0Gx4y3IPqUjtBAF